Thursday, 28 February 2013

I meant to do this blog post ages ago because what I'm writing about happened at Christmas. While staying at my parents' house for Christmas, I didn't have enough reception on my mobile for my twitter app. I had the Quick Office Pro app on my phone though. I don't have it now, but that's a different story. So I wrote what were essentially tweets that never made it on to twitter, on a Word document. I wrote them over a number of days, usually first thing in the morning and mostly before I got out of bed.. So what I'll do is post a link to this on twitter and that way anyone who wants to read random tweets can do so. I do say on twitter that I tweet random stuff and what was going on in my head at the time was quite random. But some of it makes sense. So here goes.

These are the tweets that never made it on to twitter:
I can hear crows outside (This was the first one and why I called the file "Crows").
Mom is on the phone to somebody.
I heard crows again this morning.
Norma's daughter is watching Lady & The Tramp.
I ate the Christmas dinner at Fiona's. I was so stuffed and bloated after it, but that's a good thing.
Magpies are like giant wagtails.
Dad is outside sawing wood.
I'm finally managing to pass the waste from the Christmas dinner. It took 2 days for my digestive system to process it all because I ate so much.
I'm in Listowel. Came in with Mom. I also met Patrick.
Norma's daughter and Fiona are here in the kitchen fooling around with pictures and crayons.
I must make tea and charge my phone.

So that's what I may or may not have tweeted over Christmas. Just something random I thought I'd share with the world. I didn't know what I'd do with that information at first until I decided to keep it and write a blog post of tweets that never made it to twitter. I will have deleted that file by the time you read this. It's only cluttering up my phone now.

Monday, 25 February 2013

I was going over the settings in my blog and decided to check viewer and reader statistics and comments. There was a definite spike around June of last year. That might have been the time I was trying to promote the blog more because I tried to monetize my blog. There was as sudden a drop in the latter half of last year. Viewer statistics have risen again since I removed the ads. I also looked at the geographical statistic and, amazingly, Russia was highlighted on the world map. So it's not just where relations and people I'm aware of that have viewed my blog at least once. Even though the numbers are small, I have had more viewers and readers than expected. So I would just like to take this opportunity to thank anyone who either viewed my blog, read at least one post, follows my blog or those who took the time to comment. Thank you people.
I know the subject matter can be a bit random and non-specific at times and I can ramble and drift off into tangents. But if you think anyone you know would like to read what I have to say on a particular post or a particular subject, please feel free to let them know. The one cautionary thing I will say is that I have it at family and SFW settings. So keep comments family friendly and SFW as well or they won't be seen.
Thank you for allowing this introverted man to be briefly noticed internationally.

Wednesday, 20 February 2013

I got my computer back from storage and it wouldn't work. When I plugged it in, the on light came on and it made strange beeping noises. I looked it up on the mobile internet and it could have been anything from terminal to a minor repair to a loose connection. This upset me more than the prospect of having no tv channels. I discovered that I didn't need a saorview digital box for my tv afterwards and that softened the blow of a malfunctioning computer a little bit. But I would have preferred the computer to be working for 2 reasons. The first is obvious - the internet. Updating profile info, catching up on emails, facebook and looking for jobs when I'm ready to start going for interviews again. The second reason is that I got into the hobby of writing. I blogged about a script I was working on earlier. It's not finished and I need a computer to work on it and save my progress. If I didn't have tv to distract me I would spend more time writing.
I took my computer down to the local internet place because they do repairs. The guy took my details and said he'd call me the following day. I went back to my apartment and wasn't long settled in front of the tv when he called me back and said it was done. I went down later that evening and he said he tested it a couple of times and that I shouldn't have any problems with it. He said that the ram wasn't connected properly. I took it back to my apartment. Rather than hauling it up the street in my hands, I took it there and back in a suitcase with the computer wrapped in bubble wrap inside. When I got back to my apartment and plugged it in nothing happened. It was nearly 6pm by then so I had no time to take it back before closing. I paid €30 for nothing.
The next day I took it back and there was a different guy there. I showed him my receipt and told him the story. He plugged it in and it worked straight away! I took it back to the apartment and again... nothing! No power. I tried a different lead and different sockets to no avail. I took it back with the lead (which I knew wasn't the problem). He tested the lead and it worked fine. So he tried the computer again. This time it didn't switch on. He disconnected and re connected the power unit from the motherboard and it worked when he plugged the computer in again. He said it might have been the vibration of wheeling it in the suitcase or that the power unit is on its last legs. So I lifted it and carried it back to the apartment. It's working now, but if it goes again I'll know that the power unit needs replacing because I avoided the vibration of wheeling it back to the apartment and it worked when I got back.
So I topped up my credit in the usb internet stick today and I now have a working computer and an internet connection. Good times!

Saturday, 9 February 2013

I moved to a new apartment a month ago. I didn't get my tv back from storage until this week. There's a unit on the wall with 2 connections for ariels. I plugged the tv in and didn't expect to get a signal without a digital box, but I decided to see what would happen if I tuned it. Tried the cable tv option on my tv menu and tuned. Nothing happened. So I did the full search option for digital and analogue channels. Again nothing. So I plugged into the second ariel jack and tried again. Still nothing. I noticed that there was an air option, as opposed to the cable one I had tried already. So I gave it a go. No channels detected again. I didn't expect anything from putting it back in the first jack and trying the air option. But sometimes you do something "just in case". It looked like it wasn't doing the full search on autotune so I stopped it to see if it was doing it right. When I stopped it RTE1 was on my tv screen! This was a pleasant surprise. So I restarted the search for digital and analogue channels. 18 digital channels were detected - 8 tv and 10 radio. So now I have RTE1, RTE2 HD, TV3, TG4, 3e, RTE News Now, RTE Junior and RTE 1+1 tv channels. I also have RTE radio 1, radio 1 extra, 2fm, Lyric fm, Radio na Gaeltachta, RTE Pulse, 2xm, RTE Choice, RTE Gold and RTE Chill/Jr digital radio stations. All this without the need for a saorview digital box thanks to investing in a modern full HD flatscreen tv 17 months ago. I'll miss the British channels for things like Formula 1. But I can't complain because of what I get for my licence fee now.